Last March, during a Civic Committee discussion of the state’s public pension problems, Fahner claimed that some members had talked to bond ratings agencies about lowering Illinois’ bond rating to create more pressure for pension reform.

As a taxpayer, this concerns me greatly. Lowered bond ratings mean higher borrowing costs, and it’s disturbing to think ratings might be based on something other than objective research.

As a citizen, it concerns me as well, being fraught with the possibilities of conflicts of interest, clout and other ethics violations.